Leeann Akers

With the start of the 2021-2022 school year just weeks away, the spread of the Delta variant and lagging vaccination rates have reignited conversations about the potential for tighter COVID-19 restrictions at school.

The Kentucky Department of Education released recommendations earlier this month recommending school districts follow the latest CDC guidelines. In the document detailing the guidance, the Kentucky Department for Public Health recommended that people who are unvaccinated wear masks while indoors.

Additional safety features are being implemented at the Sheltowee Falls Splash Pad in Morehead

Personnel will be stationed on the deck to watch and enforce the splash pad rules.

Parks and Recreation Director Matt Hamilton says the city is trying to make sure there is a safety supervisor on the deck at all times.

Hamilton says the free attraction is overwhelming popular, but there are not state mandates in place that require additional staffing. The splash pad is currently open 10 am to 6 p.m. daily.

Morehead State University’s Board of Regents passed the 2021-22 fiscal year budget last month with $10 million dollar increase from last year.

The $145-million dollar plan includes a $5.1 million dollar increase in personnel expenditures and a 1.25 percent tuition increase.

MSU President Dr. Jay Morgan Says nearly $5-million dollars in additional state appropriations will likely offset the raising of Kentucky education retirement system rates.

The Rowan County School District is slated to receive nearly $8 million dollars in the third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Board of Education met in a special called meeting last week to review how those funds might be allocated, given the restrictions in place.

Superintendent John Maxey says the biggest projects included in his recommendations are related to renovations and construction. 

Morehead is preparing for the first community event since the coronavirus pandemic began.  

Fazoli's Freedom Fest is set to begin late Saturday afternoon with music and vendors.   A firework show will take place around 9:30 pm at the Don Greenhill City Park.  

Downtown Morehead Incorporated Director Tony Pence says those in attendance will enjoy all their favorite activities.

  The official launch of the Downtown Entertainment District in Morehead will also happen on Saturday.

Community and state leaders gathered in Morehead Monday afternoon to celebrate the groundbreaking of another agri-tech greenhouse in Rowan county. 

AppHarvest officials announced a new 15 acre facility to grow leafy greens to be built next door to their 60 acre tomato greenhouse near Morehead.  The organization also announced a new 30 acre facility to grow strawberries in Somerset, bringing the total number of commercial greenhouses in the commonwealth to five.

Morehead state University announced return to pre-pandemic practices Friday. 

In an email to faculty and staff, President Dr. Jay Morgan said that masks, social distancing, and capacity restrictions were no longer necessary after a review of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and state leaders.

Morgan says the university is planning for a relatively normal fall semester, but he expects some new normal behaviors going forward.

A series of free concerts will be held this month in Georgetown…but will only be open to individuals who have been vaccinated for COVID-19.

A 500-seat tent has been set up at Cardome in Georgetown and the concerts will be free of charge with no need for masks or social distancing.

Organizer Michael Johnathan says the musicians participating are eager to be back on stage without limitations.

A group of eighth grade students from Rowan County Middle school is competing in the National History Day competition this week.

Established in 1974, the National History Day Contest encourages more than half a million middle and high school students around the world to conduct original research on historical topics of interest. After a regional and state competition, only the top two entries in each category advance to the National contest. 

For the 6th year in a row, Downtown Morehead Incorporated has been accredited by Kentucky Main Street and the National Main Street Center. 

27 Kentucky Main Street Program Communities finished last year strong with a reported $45-point-5 million dollar cumulative investment in downtown commercial districts.

Director of Downtown Morehead Incorporated, Tony Pence, says part of the process includes evaluating the organization, design, promotion and economic vitality.

Saint Claire HealthCare received its first allocation of the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine this week, just as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use to include adolescents as young as 12 years of age.

While SCH has administered at least one dose of the Moderna vaccine to more than 11-thousand patients since January, vaccines were only available to patients 18 and older until now.

SCH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Will Melahn says all residents to be vaccinated as soon as they are able to do so.

The Eastern Kentucky nursing home where an unvaccinated worker started an outbreak of a COVID-19 variant that infected 46 people and killed three residents has been identified as the Life Care Center in Morehead.

The March COVID-19 outbreak triggered a federal-state investigation that stressed the "critical" importance of increasing vaccination rates among staff at such facilities.

Dr. Will Melahn is the Chief Medical Officer at Saint Claire Healthcare.  He says populations that are only have partial vaccination participation makes COVID variants more likely.